Someone's yelling.
I straighten up, arms full of brilliant wildflowers, their soft velvet petals tickling my skin. I squint my eyes, trying to block out the white glare of the noon sun, and make out the commotion that's spiralling at the entrance to L'manburg. While I'm still trying to figure out what's going on, Wilbur and Niki fly out of the van, the door swinging shut loudly behind them.
I wince as it slams against the doorframe and start to step closer, the muffled words becoming clearer. Wilbur looks over his shoulder, eyes locking onto me.
"Rosemary, go inside the med bay and stay there, ok?" He calls out hurriedly. I fight the urge to roll my eyes dramatically, as I completely ignore him and keep walking.
"Rosemary I know you don't want to, but trust me, Rose, please, just stay inside until we figure this out." He says again, voice rushed and panicky as he turns, arms outstretched to intercept me. I stop, and see him exhale in relief, watching me like a hawk as I carefully bend down and deposit my flowers in a neat pile.
I stand back up, look him directly in the eye, and take another step forward.
"Rose! Please just listen to me!" He pleads, a last ditch effort before I make it within ear shot of whatever's going on. I keep walking, refusing to even acknowledge his words. This whole protector act is getting on my nerves. My sight focus in on the large arching entrance, and I stop dead in my tracks, heart pounding as I realise who's there.
"I don't care Tommy, get out of my way before you get hurt." I hear Dream snarl dangerously, and I see him, hovering just outside the boundaries, gleaming in lethal armour, mask pulled over his face, axe in hand. My feet have planted themselves into the ground, and the sight of him has frozen me on the spot, and I think my lungs have forgotten how to breathe.
"You're never coming in here, you- you- you ugly piece of shit!" Tommy yells at him, finger pointed directly at Dream's face, blue uniform childish in comparison to the power Dream silently exudes. Dream's head whips in my direction.
"Rosie!" He calls out to me, and my mind seems to disconnect completely from my mouth.
"Don't talk to her." Wilbur interrupts, sidestepping in front of me. Dream's scarred fist clenches around the axe handle.
"You think you can tell me what to do Wilbur?" He mocks, but there's no humour in his tone. My mind is still empty, a buzzing blank void that doesn't seem to be able to currently function. Wilbur scoffs, and Dream turns his attention back onto me.
"Rosie, come on, we're going back home." He says abruptly, and the sheer audacity he has to use that tone snaps me back into reality.
"We're what?" I ask bluntly, stepping out from behind Wilbur, who fruitlessly attempts to swat me back.
"We're going home." He repeats.
I narrow my eyes. "We agreed on me staying at L'manburg."
"I changed my mind." He says.
"Well, I didn't, and I'm staying here." I snap, flares of red hot, itchy irritation shooting up the back of my neck. The nerve of him to come here, after everything that happened, and to then try and order me around, is astounding.
"Princess, come on, let's just go home and we can talk." He tries, and I almost start laughing. He's oblivious. Completely oblivious. Like he has no fucking idea the shit I have been through in the past couple of days, the changes I've gone through, the person I've become. I just want to punch him in the face.
"I'm not going, but we can talk." I answer, staring at him in defiance.
"Rose? What? No!" Tommy interjects. "You're not talking to her." Wilbur nods along with him, and Niki and I look at each other, shooting each other knowing glances.
"She needs to sort stuff out with him, let her go Wil." She reasons, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. I can see the turmoil in his face, but in the end he relents, pulling a yelling Tommy with him back to the van. I step outside the walls, keeping my distance from Dream.
"I want you to know that I'm not angry at you Princess, or upset, I know you've been through a lot, and that you freaked out and said things you didn't mean." He says gently, inching towards me, pulling the mask off his face. I can see the openness in his face, faint creases between his eyebrows, mouth downturned in concern.
I can feel my face start to heat up in anger, even though he really isn't doing anything wrong, because he's not fucking listening to me.
"So...what? We go back home and you fix me and we live happily ever after?" I snark sarcastically, deadpan look on my face. He jolts slightly, taken aback by the harshness in my words.
"What are you talking about?" He asks, forehead creasing in confusion.
"Did you not listen to a word I said that night? I'm not the one that needs forgiveness here." I snap, because the more he plays dumb, the madder I get.
"Rosie, what is going on? I thought we moved on from this? Put it in the past? It's ok, you've been put through so much, and I understand why you broke down. We all say things we don't mean when we're hysterical, no one blames you." He quietly says, stepping close to me, and I stumble backwards a couple of paces.
I want to hit something out of frustration.
"I can't move on from this! Don't you fucking see that? You can pretend all you want, play nice normal boyfriend and girlfriend, but I can't. I can't pretend that I never went through everything you put me through. It still haunts my goddamn nightmares, and every waking hour, of every single day! I live through that torture every moment of my life!" I scream, backing up even more.
He stills, face falling as his eyes fill with shock and confusion. I gulp in a deep breath, before continuing.
"You fucked me up, how could you ever expect me to move on from that Dream? How could you? I meant every single word I fucking said that night. You can blame it on hysterics, or my breakdown, or whatever you want, but that does not change the fact that I meant it."
He reaches out, hand inches from my face.
"Rosie-"
"Don't you dare fucking touch me!" I shriek, blindly shuffling backwards in a panic, heart thumping madly in my chest, breathing rapidly. He stops, snatching his hand away from me.
"Ok, ok, ok I won't. I promise I won't." He says quickly, backing away from me. He takes in a shuddering breath, looking up from the ground and at me.
My heart breaks.
His green eyes swim in a pool of tears, shattered hurt and pain splintering their usually joyful glow. His face is drained of colour, pale and clammy, shock and sadness mingling on his features.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll keep fucking saying sorry until the day I die. But I also love you, Rosemary, I love you so so much, and I will try, I will do anything to fix this." He whispers, voice strangled by emotion.
"You can't fix me."
I surprise myself with my words, uttered so quietly it's a miracle he could hear them. But if he wasn't listening then, he is now, hanging onto every word that falls from my lips.
"I don't need to. I just want you to feel ok again." He breathes, wide eyes washing over my face.
My face closes off. "You took that from me the moment you kidnapped me in the war."
"What do you want me to do? Please tell me, please, and I'll do it. I'll do anything." He begs, and I almost let myself revel in this moment. The man I feared for so long, that stood as a beacon of immovable power that could crush me at any moment, right here, at my feet, fucking begging.
I almost fucking smile.
But I don't, because at the exact same time, I almost crumble. Almost give in and collapse in his arms like I'm so desperate to do, let him kiss away the pain and make me feel okay for even just a few moments. And in my turmoil, I decide to spare us both a little mercy.
"I need time, I need to think, I need to become myself again. Heal without you." I say. He nods, mouth tightening into a straight line.
"Of course. I'll be here whe- if you're ready. I'll always be here."
"I still love you." I say, clasping my hands and looking down at them. The corner of his lips perk up, ever so slightly, and I can finally see the understanding in his face. "But I hate you too." I finish.
"I know Princess, I know."
We stare at eachother for a tiny moment, like it's the first time we've ever seen each other. I see his devotion, and his kindness, and his cruelty, illuminated by soft, cold, clinical light. He sees my hatred, my disgust and my adoration, lit up in a fiery red glow. Emotion can build layers around someone, twist them into unrecognisable figures, but it can also strip them back, laying a person bare to the world.
It appears for a fleeting moment, then disappears at the sound of an unfamiliar voice breaking the tense silence.
"Ay guys! What's going on?"
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A/N Long chapter today guys! I'm sorry I lied last time, and said we'd have a fun chapter, but I made an executive decision to not do that. I actually had to rewrite this chapter several times so I could convey the tone and subtleties I wanted properly, because while the core content of every draft was the same, the meanings the reader would interpret were vastly different! Any way, this chapter Dream and Rosie sort of break up...for now (or not, we'll see). She's fighting these two extremes of conflicting feelings for him, and the poor girl has been through it, so let's all be kind to her decisions!
Next chapter we meet some new people! Very exciting and not as angsty, which will be a welcoming break. I know last chapter I said that, but I really had to put that angst in there, whoopsies I guess?
Please remember to vote and comment!!
I hope you all enjoyed,
Oopsies x
